Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil in English, was an ancient Romanpoet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues (or Bucolics), the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid. A number of minor poems, collected in the Appendix Vergiliana, are sometimes attributed to him. His Aeneid is considered the national epic of ancient Rome. Virgil's work has also had an powerful influence on Western literature, most notably the Divine Comedy of Dante, in which Virgil appears as Dante's guide through hell and purgatory.